Photo Credit: TikTok
TikTok is introducing screen timers for its teen accounts as the app comes under increased scrutiny.
Now every account belonging to someone under the age of 18 now has a 60-minute daily screen time limit. Teens can turn off this feature, but if they spend more than 100-minutes daily they will be prompted to re-enable it. TikTok says during its testing period, it saw increased screen time management tools usage by 234%.
This new feature is also a feature that can be controlled in Family Pairing mode. Parents can set a custom daily time limit for their team, which can be adjusted each day of the week. The screen time dashboard also gives parents summaries of the time their teen has spent on the app and a breakdown of hours during the day. TikTok says while these features are limited to family mode for now, soon everyone will be able to set their screen time limits and set a schedule to mute notifications.
“Research also shows that being more aware of how we spend out time can help us be more intentional about the decisions we make, and this is especially important but typically more difficult for younger audiences,” TikTok says of the decision. “We’re also prompting teens to set a daily screen time limit if they turn off the 60-minute default and spend more than 100 minutes on TikTok in a day.
TikTok’s new mute notifications feature is an extension of what already exists on the platform for accounts aged 13-15. Those accounts do not receive notifications after 9pm local time, while 16-17 year-olds have theirs disabled after 10pm. Those features will be added to the general TikTok settings—so anyone can set their own mute schedule.
“We’ve heard caregivers would like more oversight of the content their teen engages with, and we’re in the early stages of developing a way for caregivers to filter videos with words or hashtags they don’t want their teen to watch,” the announcement reads.